The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Poinsettia plant known by the cultivar name `Fisgala` and botanically known as Euphorbia pulcherrima.
`Fisgala` is a product of a planned breeding program which had the objective of creating new poinsettia cultivars with red bract color, dark-green foliage, good branching characteristics and early flowering response. `Fisgala` was originated from hybridization made in a controlled breeding program in Hillscheid, Germany, in 1994.
The female parent was a proprietary hybrid seedling No. S90-1202-1 characterized by bright-red bract color, medium-green foliage and very compact habit. The male parent was a hybrid seedling No. S90-502-1, with red-colored bracts, dark-green foliage and early flowering. `Fisgala` was discovered and selected as one flowering plant (No. 4747) within the progeny of the stated parentage by Katharina Zerr in autumn of 1995 in a controlled environment in Hillscheid, Germany.
The seeds from the cross-germination in February of 1995 and the seedlings were identified by numbers. In summer of 1995 in Hillscheid, Germany, a cutting was taken from each seedling and grown as a flowering, single-stem plant for examination in autumn and winter. The cuttings used were grown shoot tips (short stem with 3-4 mature leaves) from the upper area of the plant, taken from branches emerging from the main stem higher than the place of the grafting. After plant No. 4747 had been chosen, more cuttings were taken from the original seedling and grafted on rootstocks of variety `Beckmanns Altrosa` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 9,336) in order to transmit the branching-causing agent into the clone. The branch causing agent is a Phytoplasma which is transmitted by grafting. With branched plants grown from cuttings of the grafted plants, another trial cultivation (horticultural examination) took place in autumn and winter 1996/97.
Horticultural examination initiated in autumn of 1996 and continuing thereafter has demonstrated that the combination of characteristics as herein disclosed for `Fisgala` are firmly fixed and are retained through successive generations of asexual reproduction.